Teaching Effectiveness: The Challenges and Opportunities of Diverse Classrooms

Teaching Effectiveness: The Challenges and Opportunities of Diverse Classrooms Joseph McLaughlin, Urban Studies Jennifer Ayala, Education

Opening activity • What are the smells and foods of your childhood? • Name a time when you said something you wished you didn’t. • Name a time when you felt misunderstood.

Dimensions of diversity http://web.jhu.edu/dlc/resources/diversity_wheel/

Demographic Factors New Jersey-Densely populated state and county • Majority of student population is drawn locally from Hudson County: 42% Latin@ 15% African American 14.8% Asian Student population: 30.7% Latin@ 26.8% African-American 10.1% Asian Latin@-serving institution • 76% of full-time student body is a member of a racial/ethnic minority group * 2010 baseline data when grant submitted

Demographic Factors • 26% of incoming class came from homes where English was not first language • For the entire undergraduate population in which English was not first language, 49.7% listed Spanish as first language • In 2012: 920 men, 1393 women

Engaging diversity in the classroom • Understand types of diversity • Know yourself • Know your students • Realize that not everyone learns the same way (regardless of race/ethnicity). • Vary teaching methods

Engaging diversity in the classroom • Recognize any biases or stereotypes you may have absorbed. • Treat each student as an individual, and respect each student for who he or she is. • Rectify any language patterns or case examples that exclude or demean any groups. • Do your best to be sensitive to terminology that refers to specific ethnic and cultural groups as it changes. • Get a sense of how students feel about the cultural climate in your classroom. Tell them that you want to hear from them if any aspect of the course is making them uncomfortable. From Barbara Gross Davis book Tools for Teaching

Engaging diversity in the classroom • Introduce discussions of diversity at department meetings. • Become more informed about the history and culture of groups other than your own. • Convey the same level of respect and confidence in the abilities of all your students. • Don’t try to “protect” any group of students. Don’t refrain from criticizing the performance of individual students in your class on account of their ethnicity or gender. And be evenhanded in how you acknowledge students’ good work. • Aim for an inclusive curriculum that reflects the perspectives and experiences of a pluralistic society. • Do not assume that all students will recognize cultural, literary or historical references familiar to you. • Bring in guest lecturers to foster diversity in your class. From Barbara Gross Davis book Tools for Teaching

Name three people you consider to be intelligent.

Multiple IntelligencesHoward Gardner MI MI • Linguistic • Logical-mathematical • Visual-spatial • Bodily-kinesthetic • Musical • Interpersonal • Intrapersonal • Naturalistic

Activities Linguistic Logical-mathematical • Classroom Discussion • Writing reports • Interviewing • Journaling • Reading • Calculation • Deductive and inductive logic • Patterns • Abstract symbols/formulas • Probability • Analogies

Activities Multiple Intelligences Kinesthetic Visual-spatial • Manipulatives • Drama/role play • Dance • Athletic activities • Tactile experiences • Hands-on learning • Flow charts • Visual outlines • Images/videos that accompany lectures • Mapping/Concept map • Venn diagrams • Guided imagery

Activities for Multiple Intelligences Musical Interpersonal • Song lyrics • Listening to music that accompanies the lecture • Using music as memory aids • Finding patterns in sound • Cooperative learning • Collaborative learning • Peer tutoring • Community involvement • Organizing events

Activities for Multiple Intelligences Intrapersonal Naturalist • Self-evaluation • Journal writing • Independent study • Option for different choices in course of study • Time for quiet reflection • Observations • Field trips • Collecting data • Activities outside the phyisical classroom

Questions ? After today’s presentation and dialogue, consider what some ways we could all better engage our students in the classroom.

Resources • Edchange Multicultural Pavilion– contains many links to social justice education sites and educational materials http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/index.html • Jane Elliot’s Brown Eye-Blue Eye exercise, video and related articles on PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html • Interview with James Banks on his four multicultural education dimensions http://www.learner.org/workshops/socialstudies/pdf/session3/3.Multiculturalism.pdf

Resources • Stereotype threat article by Claude Steele http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/52/6/613/ • Johns Hopkins University Diversity Leadership Council– contains reading list http://web.jhu.edu/dlc/resources/suggested_reading/ • Gloria Landsing-Billings– a link to some of her recent work http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2513 • Critique of cultural deficit models, linguistic diversity http://wiki.ggc.edu/images/6/6f/Transforming.pdf • Ambivalent sexism survey, along with links to other exercises http://www.understandingprejudice.org/asi/take

Teaching Effectiveness: The Challenges and Opportunities of Diverse Classrooms